For Fil-Rome community representative Silvia Celeste Cortesi, her unprecedented victory at the recent Miss Philippines-Earth 2018 was a vindication. The 20-year-old Science degree-graduate had suffered the same fate as Pia Wurtzbach in Miss Universe 2015 when the host of the Miss Philippines Earth-Italy 2018, held in Rome, Italy in February, named the wrong winner of the pageant instead of her.
The statuesque model, who said her strong motivation to win was her Filipina mother who prodded her into joining the Miss Fil-Italy Earth pageant, was an unpopular choice as winner to represent the Fil-Rome community. We bet, her bashers online after her crowning must now be eating their words as Cortesi has become the first ever Miss Phil-Earth winner from the international Filipino community in the 18-year history of the Manila-based pageant.
One of the heavy favorites to win, Cortesi had difficulty in English answering the top 5 final Q&A “What should be done to make sure that what happens to Boracay doesn’t happen to our other tourist destinations?”
“I am agree [sic] with the decision of the president to do that and I think Boracay need(s) a drainage system because the “juice” of the trash goes directly to the ocean. We have to control the capacity of the hotel(s) and I think that we have also to…,” was her exact, uncompleted answer as she ran out of time.
Setting foot in the Philippines for the first time was a dream come true for Cortesi who had a tough childhood growing up in Italy. She wants to work in the country and hopes to learn more of the Tagalog language.
Cortesi’s environmental platform concerns about protecting the trees and preserving diminishing forests. It’s the same platform she will carry when she competes in Miss Earth 2018 before the year ends.